Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Hey, I've returned

Sorry for the month-long break, folks. I've had a lot of work-related stuff dumped on me in the past few weeks and a nasty case of writer's block. So, I'll start out slowly with this Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article that provides new information into one of last year's incidents of anti-Republican voter suppression.

Hmm. One of the "true believers" who took part in this suppression incident is the son of a U.S. Congresswoman, Gwen Moore. These five gentlemen used a Democratic campaign headquarters as the launching pad for their little foray into their political stunt. Now they face felony charges. Congresswoman Moore must be so proud of her little darling.

I need to know this: is there a word for the special kind of stupidity that these five men seem to share? I know it's not "Democrat." There are still a few Zell Millers out there who are trying to keep their party relevant, so that's not the case.

Here are the end paragraphs:

Seth Boffeli, spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, denounced the slashings and said the felony charge seemed appropriate.

“This really doesn’t have anything to do with politics,” Boffeli said. “This isn’t anything that we tried to orchestrate. This is something that some young people who used some incredibly bad judgment did on their own.”

The money quote is in the last paragraph. It has nothing to do with politics, Mr. Boffeli? Are we sure of that, considering that a bunch of men in their 20s and early 30s who were staffers for a PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN went to an OPPOSING PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN'S office and slashed the tires of vehicles rented by the campaign. No, this has NOTHING to do with politics! It was just bad judgment! Really! These men were not motivated by politics at all!

Bah. They may have decided to do it on their own, but the charges still make the Democrats look bad. It also makes me wonder why these men haven't grown out of high-school era vandalism. They are a definite disservice to their party.

Next up: thoughts on Ray LaHood's potential run for Illinois Governor, the Inauguration (and the feckless protests generated by it), a bit on Iraqi elections, and Hillary Clinton trying to play the center on abortion. At least, I hope I'll be able to write about them. I don't want writer's block again.